Charedi Beth Din denounces Hackney councillor in get case

 

The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has taken the unusual step of denouncing a local councillor for allegedly refusing to co-operate with its Beth Din over his wife’s application for a divorce.

The head of the Union’s Beth Din, Dayan Aharon Dovid Dunner, said that Benzion Papier, who represents the Conservatives in Stamford Hill West in the borough of Hackney — a ward with a large Charedi population, should be considered an “offender” in the view of the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law.

In a letter in Hebrew to the officers of the Bobov 45 community, Dayan Dunner said Papier had refused to come to the religious court despite invitations to attend.

It urged them to do everything they could to influence him to comply with the Beth Din’s orders and not to continue to “chain” his “unfortunate” wife.

Under Jewish law, a woman requires a get, a religious divorce, from her husband in order to be able to remarry, otherwise she will be left stranded as an agunah, a “chained woman”. A get has to be given by the husband and received by the wife voluntarily.

A spokesman for the Union said it was “very rare” for such letters to be issued.

A husband who is considered to have defied the Beth Din can be liable to sanctions such as being denied the honour of being called to the Torah in synagogue or even being barred from entry.

Councillor Papier, who is deputy chairman for membership of Hackney Conservative Association, has been approached for a comment.